Five big things will decide what this country looks like next year and in the 20 years to follow, but here’s a guarantee for you: you’re not going to hear about them in the upcoming presidential debates.

1. Immediate deficit reduction will wipe out any hope of economic recovery:

2. Taxes are at their lowest point[3] in more than half a century, preventing investment in and the maintenance of America’s most basic resources:

3. Neither the status quo nor a voucher system will protect Medicare (or any other kind of health care) in the long run:

4. The U.S. military is outrageously expensive and yet poorly tailored to the actual threats to U.S. national security:

5. The U.S. education system is what made this country prosperous in the twentieth century — but no longer:

[2] A Recipe for American Decline That No One Will Be Debating : http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175599/tomgram%3A_mattea_kramer%2C_a_recipe_for_american_decline_that_no_one_will_be_debating/?utm_source=TomDispatch&utm_campaign=41bdf51190-TD_Kramer9_30_2012&utm_medium=email#more